Shell
Horizon 3 Strategy: forging a bold vision of the future
Summary
A hands-on program that empowers teams to actively identify, explore, and validate high-impact Horizon 3 opportunities for a global energy company.
A hybrid approach where DEUS expertise in facilitation and strategic thinking combines with internal co-facilitation, ensuring ideas are organically generated and owned by internal teams. The program fuels Horizon 3 initiatives by accelerating scalable platforms that align with the company's strategic strengths.
Services
Industry
The Challenge
Structuring innovation funnels for Horizon 2 and 3 initiatives within the energy sector, where stated needs may differ from actual requirements.
The company faced the complex task of navigating an environment where stated needs may differ from actual requirements, while simultaneously discovering processes and training engineering and technology teams on validation, including knowing when to stop investing in initiatives that aren't working.
Problem 01
Develop a structured innovation framework
- ▪Integrating future foresight and platform thinking
- ▪Leveraging the company’s unique strengths for strategic prioritization
- ▪No structured path from ideation to transformation
- ▪Unclear how to evaluate and descope underperforming initiatives
Problem 02
Establish a robust value chain around ideas
- ▪Driving early ideation directly to transformation and change
- ▪Training teams to evaluate and descope with confidence
- ▪Need to integrate within the company’s platform
- ▪No systematic method to validate Horizon 3 concepts
The Approach
Nine intensive ideation workshops with 100+ participants, moving from shared visions of the future through opportunity identification to actionable innovation concepts.
01
Future visioning
Participants imagined life between 2040 and 2050, sharing ideas for overcoming future challenges. They mapped the far-reaching effects of key future trends, building a vivid scenario of daily life.
02
Opportunity identification and ideation
Sessions challenged the group to pinpoint opportunities within this future, leading to fast-paced brainstorming, business model innovation mashups, and refining innovative concepts.
03
Proposition shaping and pitching
Promising ideas shaped into clear, compelling propositions ready to pitch. Each concept defined through building blocks and concise story seeds, making a case for why it matters.
Future World Exercise
Goal: Build a shared vision of the future by exploring bold, inspiring possibilities for 2040. By surfacing key elements, behaviors, and opportunities, we create a strong foundation for our ideation work.
Future Wheel Exercise
Goal: Explore first-, second-, and third-order effects of future elements so we can identify potential challenges and opportunities for 2040/2050.
Crazy 6's
Goal: Generate a number of creative ideas quickly by exploring different possibilities without overthinking. This helps unlock unexpected, innovative directions and gets everyone's imagination flowing.
Business Model Innovation Mashup
Goal: Generate fresh perspectives by reimagining promising ideas through different business models, so we can spot new opportunities and inspire innovative twists.
Shape Your Proposition
Goal: Shape promising ideas into a clear, compelling proposition ready to pitch. Define building blocks, create a concise story seed, and make a case for why it matters.
Impact
A comprehensive strategic vision that equips the company to navigate a resource-constrained, algorithmically driven future with confidence.
Strategic Framework
A layered framework of beliefs, signals, themes, and scenarios, synthesized from a rigorous visioning process into actionable business environments.
Capability Assessment
Readiness assessments paired with each scenario, analyzing core competencies required to succeed in each distinct market.
Internal Capability
The program delivered internal teams trained in structured innovation methodologies, ensuring the organization can continue identifying and validating Horizon 3 opportunities independently.
Methods
A structured innovation approach combining future foresight, platform thinking, and collaborative ideation.
Future foresight
Scenario planning
Ideation workshop
Business model innovation
Platform thinking
Strategic prioritization
Opportunity canvas
Design sprints
Proposition design
Story seeding
Stakeholder alignment
Facilitation
Co-facilitation
Training